Leon and Mark are ready to rip it up
Petrol heads are you ready for the first round of the South African National Drag Racing Championships?
On March 21, eMalahleni’s Leon du Plooy and Mark van der Westhuizen will try to improve their best times and return home with the gold in this year’s Fast Fest held at Tarlton International Raceway.
The guys have been hard at work on their rides since the Test and Tune on February 2, where Leon almost rolled his Turbo Extreme Clinic Nissan Bakkie. “I had to change the turbo as it was making too much power, I had a close call,” said Leon.
Leon had turned his boost down and did a 9.0 with 242 km/h.
“The track should be treated better come March 21, if it is I can boost up the turbo again,” added Leon as he grinned.
As for what the guys have recently gotten up to; on Mark’s Jack Daniels bakkie, the guys have changed the clutch setup as well as his differential. A larger turbo was fitted to Leon’s bakkie and the guys have modified the fuel system and added a new wheelie bar setup.
“We really hope that it won’t rain and that the track conditions will be better than it was at the Test and Tune,” added Leon.
In the finals of last year’s Nationals on October 27, Leon was the fastest qualifier in his class, almost beating his personal record of 8.855 seconds. Leon finished in fifth in his class and Mark finished seventh. Let’s hold thumbs as Mark aims to better his time of 10.8 seconds with a speed of 204km/h and Leon hopes to crunch his personal best of 8.8 seconds at 243km/h.
Joining in the action all the way from Denmark will be 2013 European Top Fuel Champion, Stig Neergard as he attempts to break the current South African Top Fuel Dragster record of Nico van Rensburg, set back in 1998 with an impressive 5.677 sec at 414.65 km/h over a quarter mile.
The Top Fuel dragster makes an impressive 8000hp and is the pinnacle of Drag Racing.
If you are a petrol head, this is surely an event not to be missed.
“It will be great if a lot more people from Witbank come to Tarlton for the Fast Fest and the first round of Nationals,” ended Leon.
Tarlton is located on the R24, halfway between Krugersdorp and Magaliesburg. (GPS Map Position: S26 °03’22.0” E27°37’24.3”). For more information visit https://www.tarltonrace.com/index.php/9-featured/50-ffmar.
